CEDAR RAPIDS, Ia. — Rick Perry blanked on Thursday when asked about a Supreme Court decision he’s railed against since 2002 as Texas governor that struck down anti-sodomy laws in his state and others.

The moment came during a Thursday morning stop in Cedar Rapids when Perry ended his stump speech and left some time for voters to feel him out.

“I’m going to answer a few questions, if that’s all right,” he said, “in the proud Iowa tradition!”

Perry’s first questioner asked how the candidate defended his support of limited government when he opposed Lawrence vs. Texas, the Supreme Court case legalizing sodomy.

After repeating the question to the audience, Perry said he simply wanted “government to work” and pivoted to a critique on federal government spending.

He then turned back to the question:

“And I wish I could tell you I knew every Supreme Court case. I don’t. I’m not even going to try to go through every Supreme Court case. I’m not a lawyer.”

While Perry isn’t a lawyer, he did refer to Lawrence vs. Texas three times in his 2010 book, “Fed Up,” calling the case one in which “we Texans were at the center of the issue at hand.”

Perry critiques the decision specifically during the book’s chapter in which he rails on the Supreme Court.

“I could write a whole book on this topic — one chapter doesn’t allow nearly enough room,” he writes of the chapter’s subject.

When the court case eluded him in Cedar Rapids, however, Perry downplayed its importance in relation to government spending, a bread-and-butter topic of the governor’s stump speeches.

“But here’s what I do know: I knew that they’re spending too much money in Washington D.C.,” he said.

“And we can sit here and play ‘I gotcha’ questions on what about this Supreme Court case or whatever, but let me tell you: You know and I know that the problem in this country is spending in Washington D.C. It’s not some Supreme Court case.”

OTHER THEMES: Perry’s campaign launched a targeted attack on Rick Santorum on Thursday, labeling the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania as a “prolific earmarker” both at campaign stops and in a new radio ad. In Cedar Rapids, Perry tried to portray the attack as nothing personal.

“I got great respect for Senator Santorum. I mean, we stand on the stage — I pray for his daughter on a daily basis. Bella, his little baby girl,” Perry said of Santorum’s daughter, who has a genetic disorder.

“But when he talks about fiscal conservatism, I’m kind of left scratching my head.”

THE CANDIDATE’S DAY: Perry kicked off his day in Washington to a shoulder-to-shoulder group of perhaps 80 people at the Coffee Corner before heading to another java shop, the Blue Strawberry, in Cedar Rapids. There he spoke to a crowd of about 200 before heading to his last stop of the day, the Fisher Community Center in Marshalltown.

TODAY: Perry’s bus is slated to roll up to Waterloo’s Doughy Joeys Pizza at noon, Waverly’s Fainting Goat at 2:45 p.m. and the Mason City Country Club at 5:30 p.m.